Happy Birthday Daniel, Papa, and Aunt Joan

I am very blessed to be part of a great family. We spend a lot of time together and I always love getting together with everyone for a party. This party was at my Uncle Michael's house and we had a lot of fun!

Here is my daddy and Melissa playing on the tire swing. Here I am on my bouncer...my mommy and daddy let me bring it with me to party's when other kids will be there...it is wonderful!

Running around!

Just hanging out after dinner.

My turn on the tire swing!

Melissa's turn! Mom isn't sure why she didn't get cake pics, gift pics etc. Hmmm...maybe I was keeping her a little bit busy. :-)

A loooong time coming . . . just catching up

Well, a lot has gone on in our life in the past month. My mom hasn't really had the time to sit down to blog. But, things seem to be settling down a little bit and its time for mom to get my blog caught up...her goal is to be caught up before Halloween so that she is ready to groove as the holiday season starts to kick in.

In September my Papa made a REALLY delicious spanish meal for my dad as an early birthday present. He worked on the food for two days and it was sooooo good. We ate a ton of food and had fun celebrating my dad's birthday a bit early.

Here is my Papa's ingredients and skilled cooking technique.
One day my Papa and Grandma called me up to see if I had eaten breakfast already. We had actually had a very lazy day and so my mom and I got ready and went to IHOP with my grandparents. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed every moment together!

I am so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents!!!!

Tigers Game

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A VERY simple slideshow (sample)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A clebration of life!

Dear family and friends,

This morning at 7:06 a.m., our friend, Douglas Daniels, went home to be with Jesus. As you can imagine his passing is a tremendous loss for his family and friends. However, there is comfort in knowing that heaven is celebrating and rejoicing in welcoming this precious soul home. It was an honor to get to know Douglas. Whether it was from stories that his mom, dad and family shared with me or from the sweet moments he and I shared together in prayer, tender touches, yumming up chocolate ice cream, and sipping down Pepsi and Sierra Mist. Douglas has forever impacted my life in an incredible way. His mom has shown me how to love with complete pureness and how to exhibit complete selflessness by releasing her most precious gift back into the arms of Jesus.

I can't imagine the pain that his parents and loved ones are experiencing and I know that there is now earthly comfort that can soothe this deep wound. However, I do take comfort in knowing that are loving Heavenly Father will cradle each of them in exactly the way then need it and will flood their hearts and mind with sweet memories of this precious young man.

Thank you to all of you that have been praying for Douglas and his family. We ask that you continue to keep them close to your heart in prayer.


Love,
Rachel

Prayers

Hello Everyone,

We are taking a short break from a Joshua posting to ask that everyone take moment to stop and pray for a young man named Douglas. Douglas is the 15 year old son of a woman that Randy works with (Carolyn). He has battled through several health issues and most recently received diagnosis of a brain tumor on his brain stem. He has received all of the treatments that are available to him and has now been given a short time to live (2-3 weeks).

I was able to go out to visit with his mom yesterday and obviously my heart is broken for her. Randy is not feeling well so he has not yet been able to make it out to the hospital (we don't want to spread germs). I wish that I could just wrap my arms around that whole family and hug them 24/7. There is comfort in knowing that Jesus can do that and is doing that for me :-)

Please pray that if it be God's will that a healing miracle would take place. However, if it is His will that Douglas leave this world we pray that a tremendous amount of peace would sweep over him and his family.

As you can imagine this has hit our family pretty close to home. We know that each of our prayers are heard and that God's hand is always in control even in these trying situations.

Thank you for your prayers. I will be heading back to the hospital today to hopefully share the good news of Jesus Christ to all who will receive. I would appreciate your prayers for that as well.


Love,
Rachel

Raspberries

While we were visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Cripe we were able to go to Erwyn's Ochards and pick some raspberries. I've never picked berries before - it was so much fun and absolutely delicious!

Come on guys...I'm so bored waiting to get my berries. Gotcha!

Silly me!

I ate what I picked :-) Soooo yummy!

Phew...I needed to sit down after the hard work of eating so many berries :-)

Grandma Cripe, Daddy, Me, and Grandpa Cripe

The next day mommy taught me how to make raspberry freezer jam. I love cooking with my mom.

I loved stirring the gooey raspberries.

Just before bed my jam was already...I made 4 jars of jam!!!

The next morning I had raspberry jam and toast for breakfast....it was super delicious!

A day with Grandma and Grandpa Cripe

Last Saturday, I finally got to go out and see my daddy's mom and dad. I was soooo happy. They have a great horse named Lizzy and I love her...she is so big! They also have a kitty named Blynken.

Here I am with my Grandma Cripe and Lizzy.

Getting some hay for LizzyGoing on a tractor ride with my GrandmaFinishing up a tractor ride with my Grandpa Standing by the big bales of happy hay at Erwyn Orchids with GrandmaChecking out the goat!Feeding the goat...slimy!Playing on a bale of hayGoofing around with Grandma
Blynken came back to the barn to visit with me...I was so happy!
Playing outside with the kitty.Collecting acorns for my squirrels at home with dad.Getting ready to head home with a load of acorns...it was a great day!

My Big Boy Bed!

September 5th was the big day! When I woke up in the morning my mommy and daddy let me watch a movie while they went into my room and turned my crib into a toddler bed. They took down all of my "baby" bedding and made my bed super soft and cozy with new sheets, comforter, and 2 new pillows. As soon as I seen my new bed I was so excited and hopped right in bed....Then I moved around a little bit and looked to see exactly what happened.

Then my little Mocha hopped in bed with me and gave me lots of kisses. I felt so special to be able to have Mocha get in bed with me.

Then I spent some time petting Mocha while we both relaxed in "our" new bed.
We spent the rest of the day out at my Grandpa and Grandma Cripe's house. When we came home and it was finally time to go to bed mom and and dad were a little bit nervous, but I climbed right in said my prayers and went right to sleep! I slept through the whole night!!! My bed is great...I love being a big boy!

10 Year Anniversary Pics...finally

Well, its been over a month and I'm just now getting the pics up from our surprise 10 year anniversary party. We really had a great time celebrating with everyone! Thanks again for making our day so special!

Our beautiful cake...same flavors as our wedding cake 10 years ago :-)
This time I was super nice I fed Randy his slice of cake....I wasn't quite as nice 10 years ago.What fun celebrating with our little boy...he loved it!Daddy and his boy!Our very sweet little family...10 years later :-) We sealed the evening with a kiss...and can't wait for the next 10 years!!!!